Gophers vs. Huskies hockey game ends in brawl [VIDEO]

Up 6-2 with less than two minutes to go, it looked like the Gophers had effectively clinched a clean comeback against Michigan Tech Saturday night at Mariucci Arena. As it turned out, the game was just about to get interesting.

The third period ended with two fights that sent five players to the penalty box. Footage of the game shows a very heated Gophers head coach Don Lucia looking ready to jump over to the Michigan bench and throw a few punches himself, causing the linesmen to actually climb in between the benches to stop him.

The first fight began with 1:46 on the clock after Jake Hansen scored a power-play goal for the Gophers, giving Minnesota a 4-point lead. Michigan Tech's Steven Seigo was apparently not happy with how the game was about to end. Seigo went after Hansen, and another Gophers player joined in the action, earning all three penalties for roughing.

After the next faceoff, Seth Helgeson, a defenseman for the Gophers, and Tech's Carl Nielsen decided to pick things up where the others left off. Here's video of the fight, via Sportsgrid:

More noteworthy was what happened next. It's unclear how it started, but footage of the game shows Michigan assistant coach Bill Muckalt standing on the bench yelling across to the Gophers side. It's hard to make out, but he appears to be screaming, "Come on over."

Lucia and Gophers assistant coach Grant Potulny look like they'd be more than happy to accept the invitation, but several officials jump in between the two sides to make sure that doesn't happen.

In the end, sportsmanship prevailed. According to the Star Tribune, players and coaches still returned to the ice for the post-game handshake. Lucia, however, did not join them.